James Morgan displays the one-piece tracking unit that he wears at all times. Under state law, certain offenders convicted of violent sex crimes will be tracked with GPS technology for the rest of their lives.

DOC officials respond
Two Department of Corrections officials, Grace Roberts and Melissa Roberts, respond to questioning by the the Chairman of the Committee on Corrections, Rep. Garey Bies, R-Sister Bay, about the cost and effectiveness of the GPS monitoring system.

About the project

Thirteen offenders told the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism that Wisconsin’s GPS tracking system repeatedly fails, registering false alerts and landing the offenders in jail although they had done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walker is proposing an expansion of nearly 50 percent in the number of offenders monitored by GPS devices.

Offenders and their advocates say that GPS breakdowns waste taxpayers’ money with unnecessary police work and lockups, and hamper offenders’ efforts to restore relationships with their families and retain jobs. The DOC says the system is reliable, but releases few details and acknowledges its performance hasn’t been audited.

MADISON — State prison officials were pressed Thursday to answer legislators’ questions about the reliability of GPS monitoring of offenders.

“I guess my concern is that our equipment is accurate so that we know it’s working and we’re protecting the public,” said Rep. Garey Bies, R-Sister Bay, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Corrections.

Bies called the hearing in response to a Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism report, published March 24, citing interviews with 13 offenders who contend the state’s tracking system repeatedly fails, registering false alerts and landing the offenders in jail although they had done nothing wrong.

Gov. Scott Walker is proposing an expansion of nearly 50 percent in the number of offenders monitored by Global Positioning System (GPS) devices.

“We’ve found it to be a very, very useful tool,” she told legislators.

The Center’s report quoted advocates for offenders who allege that unnecessary lockups waste taxpayer resources and complicate offenders’ efforts to reconnect to jobs and families.

The DOC currently uses GPS technology to track 639 offenders, Roberts said. While she did not provide a precise breakdown of offenders by conviction, she said the majority are sex offenders, with “two handfuls” convicted of such other crimes as violating restraining orders.

Walker’s proposed budget recommends $10 million in new funding for expanded use of GPS tracking in fiscal years 2014 and 2015 — to monitor 783 individuals the first year and 939 the second year.

Melissa Roberts, legislative liaison for the DOC, said the additional funds were requested to cover the expected increase in the number of people monitored by GPS. A law passed last April and set to take full effect in 2014 allows judges to require GPS tracking for offenders who violate a temporary restraining order or injunction for domestic abuse or harassment.

The state Department of Corrections previously said it was unaware of problems with the technology, for which it contracts with a Colorado company called BI (Behavioral Interventions). But it acknowledged that it does not track how often alerts result in offenders being jailed, and has never audited the performance of its GPS monitoring system, in use since 2007.

At the hearing, Grace Roberts said GPS reception, like cell phone coverage, varies by location. She said GPS signals can be lost due to rain or fog, in deep canyons or dense vegetation, near large or tall buildings, or when an offender is riding in a vehicle and the GPS unit is not near the window.

Rep. Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, read aloud portions of the Center’s recent story, including an anecdote about Sam Bratsven, an offender who was passed over by a prospective employer because repeated alert on his GPS bracelet “indicate(d) a high level of potential for disruption in any assignment where the applicant could be placed.”

Schraa said he was concerned about this and other occasions in which the technology sends an alert even though the offender is complying with the rules.

“When you’re having false readings like this to that degree,” said Schraa, “I’m just not sure, fiscally, that it’s responsible for us to be putting that kind of money into a program that is, at best, not accurate.”

Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, said that about a year ago a man came into his office and was very adamant about the problems his GPS unit caused him.

Yet, he said, the issue boiled down to public safety versus “inconvenience” for the offenders.

“It seems to me that what I’m hearing here is that we have kind of an overprotection problem (rather) than an under-protection problem,” Thiesfeldt said.

Bies said he wanted to give the DOC a chance to respond to information that has been “in the public eye,” such as repeated jail stays for offenders who claim they had done nothing wrong.

Schraa, after the meeting, said he understands that there is not much sympathy for sex offenders, but “I have the opinion that if they serve their time, they’re afforded the same dignity as anyone else.”

Moreover, Schraa said, “I believe it does a disservice to taxpayers when we’re not asking tough questions. I think it’s important to shake the tree.”

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Read This Next

A Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism report on problems regarding the use of GPS devices to monitor convicted offenders was a factor in the decision of state lawmakers to delay approval of some funding sought by the state Department of Corrections for program expansion, and seek a study on the program’s effectiveness.

“People are concerned with the accuracy of the GPS monitoring devices,” said state Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, citing the Center’s report.

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Related Series

A 2013 investigation into the reliability of Wisconsin's GPS monitoring system for sex offenders. Thirteen offenders told the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism that Wisconsin’s GPS tracking system repeatedly fails, registering false alerts and landing the offenders in jail although they had done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walker is proposing an expansion of nearly 50 percent in the number of offenders monitored by GPS devices.

Shelly Stow

Thankfully, they are asking the questions. Not to do so would be to ignore the financial waste and the unjust persecution of registrants.

These types of monitoring systems are big business. Too many people are making money off of today’s sex offender industry; the least they can do is supply non-defective merchandise.

GPS technology works best when it has clear line of site to the sky overhead. It works worst when close to signal blockers or interference. People in general spend more than 80% of their days INDOORS.

The best signal blocker/interference creator other than non-organic items is the human body. Works no better than a cell phone in many parts of the state, causing offenders to wear two different devices.

So what do they do?

They place those bracelets on the ankles of offenders, close to the floor so always an obscured view of the sky.

Now they want to use GPS on people that have restraining orders against them for domestic violence. Not sure how that keeps the person that filed the restraining order safe from being beaten again, the system seems to only give law enforcement/DOC/government more ammunition to prosecute more. Spending more money that Wisconsin Taxpayers do not have.

Regardless of crime, it costs money to have each of those people on GPS, could the money be better spent on rehabilitation and reintegration rather than using unreliable devices even in the best of conditions.

GPS system is useful in all cases. But they can’t be made personalized. We should follow the correct procedures the government are saying about GPS. Question back the state government if they are our of the policy is nothing wrong.

Most of the time GPS tracking system works well. To every technology there is some sort of limitation such as bad weather condition, heavy rain or fog, deep canyons or dense vegetation, near huge or tall buildings, or when the GPS unit had been tempered by someone. When a person tries to tamper the GPS unit, then at that time also it send signals indicating mischievous activities with the unit. Correct government policies must be followed while dealing with GPS. Also, to safeguard self, one must choose GPS tracking system from a certified and reputed manufacturer so as to minimize malfunctioning.

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The independent nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is increasing the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future generations of investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.